Nine Amherst store clerks cited for underage alcohol sales

AMHERST -- Nine of 13 businesses targeted in a "compliance check" on Friday sold alcohol to teenagers, according to Amherst Police.

Lorain School Board member Tim Williams, and coordinator of the Sober Truth On Prevention underage drinking task force, or STOP, said the task force coordinated with the Amherst Police Department for the check.

"We aren't out there trying to issue citations, we're trying to decrease and eliminate underage liquor sales," Williams said. "Our hope is that it climbs higher on people's radars, and with retail stores, it will place a little bit higher on their priorities list."

Amherst police Sgt. Michael Murphy, who was in charge of the operation, said the department worked with two confidential informants, 18- and 19-years-old, respectively. Those teens would go into the store and attempt to purchase alcohol -- if the clerk asked for ID, the teens would say they did not have one. If the clerk sold them alcohol anyway, police cited the clerk for underage sale of alcohol, Murphy said.

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Murphy said while the police department can only cite the individual who sold the alcohol, and the business as a whole, the results of the sweep will be forwarded to the state level, which could result in a citation for the business.

The following stores sold alcohol to a teen informant. All are in Amherst: